Bitter pill to swallow

IT is good news that a brave Wemyss Bay woman who has been shielding from Covid for almost three years is finally able to hug her family members once more. What isn’t so uplifting is the fact that she is facing a bill of almost £4,500 per year to be able to do so. Jacquie Mackay has been locked down since the pandemic arrived with a compromised immune system that leaves her incredibly vulnerable to the virus. Wonder drug Evusheld, which provides extra antibodies, was her only weapon to fight back — but is not available on the NHS. So with her daughter’s wedding looming and her mother suffering a mini stroke, it left the mum facing an agonising choice between family and financial stress. In a modern society like ours, that is an unacceptable position for someone to find themselves in. It is perhaps time that circumstances like Jacquie’s were considered on a case by case basis, rather than just a blanket approach of deciding if something should or should not be provided. That seems like a much fairer approach.